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DECISION No.299/1998/QD-BTC OF MARCH 16, 1998 ISSUING THE REGULATION ON OBLIGATORY INSURANCE FOR MOTORIZED VEHICLE OWNERS' CIVIL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE PREMIUM AND INSURED RESPONSIBILITY LEVEL INDEX

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to Decree No.178-CP of October 28, 1993 of the Government stipulating the function, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Civil Code promulgated on October 28, 1995;

Pursuant to Decree No.100-CP of December 18, 1993 of the Government on insurance business and Decree No.74-CP of June 14, 1997 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No.100 of December 18, 1993 of the Government on insurance business;

Pursuant to Decree No.115/1997/ND-CP of December 17, 1997 of the Government on the regime of obligatory insurance for civil responsibility of the owners of motorized vehicles;

At the proposal of the Director of Financial Department for Banks and Financial Institutions,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on obligatory insurance for the motorized vehicle owners' civil responsibility and the Premiums and Insured Responsibility Level Index.

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing and replaces Decision No.504/TCBH of November 20, 1991 of the Minister of Finance promulgating the Regulation on the motorized vehicle insurance and the premium index as well as Decision No.715/TC/BH of October 19, 1993 of the Minister of Finance readjusting the responsibility and premium levels of obligatory insurance for civil responsibility of the motorized vehicle owners.

Article 3.- The Director of the Financial Department for Banks and Financial Institutions, Director of the Office of the Ministry of Finance and heads of concerned units shall have to inspect and supervise the implementation of this Decision.

For the Minister of Finance

Vice Minister

LE THI BANG TAM

REGULATION ON OBLIGATORY INSURANCE FOR THE MOTORIZED VEHICLE OWNERS' CIVIL RESPONSIBILITY

(Issued together with Decision No.299/1998/QD-BTC of March 16, 1998 of the Minister of Finance)

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Objects and scope of application:

1. The insurance enterprises and the owners of motorized vehicles including foreign owners using motorized vehicles on the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are obliged to abide by the regime of obligatory insurance for civil responsibility of the motorized vehicle owners.

2. The scope of insurance for civil responsibility of the motorized vehicle owners prescribed in this Regulation shall include:

- Insurance for the responsibility of paying damages outside the contract caused by the motorized vehicle against a third person;

- Insurance for civil responsibility of the motorized vehicle owners toward passengers under the passenger transport contracts.

Article 2.- In this Regulation, the following conceptions are construed as follows:

1. The third persons are persons suffering from physical and property damage caused by motorized vehicles, excluding those onboard the vehicles, drivers and their assistants and passengers on such vehicles.

2. Passengers are passengers on vehicles under the passenger transport contracts who suffer from damage in lives or health.

3. The insured responsibility level is the largest sum of money an insurance enterprise may have to pay in each case of accident that occurs within the insured responsibility.

4. An intentional act of causing damage is the case where a person is fully aware that his/her act shall cause damage to other person(s) but still commits such act and let the damage occurs at will or not at will.

Article 3.- Insurance contract:

The insurance certificates issued by insurance enterprises at the request of the insured constitute the evidence of the signing of contracts between the motorized vehicle owners and the insurance enterprises.

Article 4.- Insurance premium and the insured responsibility level:

The insurance enterprises and the motorized vehicle owners shall have to implement the insurance according to the Premium and minimum Insured Responsibility Level Index issued together with Decision No.299/1998/QD-BTC of the Minister of Finance.

The insurance enterprises may negotiate with the vehicle owners to effect the insurance according to the premium index and higher responsibility level or a broader scope of insured risks according to the insurance regulation, premium index and insured responsibility level, which the insurance enterprises have registered with the Ministry of Finance.

Article 5.- Insurance effect:

The insurance effect shall begin and expire under the provisions stated in the insurance certificates. The insurance enterprises shall grant insurance certificates only after the motorized vehicle owners fully pay the insurance premium (except otherwise properly agreed).

Article 6.- Transfer of ownership:

During the effective duration stated in the insurance certificate, if the vehicle ownership is transferred and the motorized vehicle owner does not request the cancellation of the insurance contract, all insurance interests related to the insured vehicle remain effective to the new owner of the motorized vehicle.

Article 7.- Contract cancellation:

In cases where a motorized vehicle owner requests the cancellation of the insurance contract, he/she shall have to notify in writing the insurance enterprise thereof 15 days in advance. If within 15 days from the receipt of the written notice of the cancellation the concerned insurance enterprise has no opinion, the insurance contract is automatically cancelled and the insurance enterprise shall refund 80% of the insurance premium for the cancelled period except for cases where occurs the insured incident related to the vehicle for which the insurance is requested to be cancelled.

Article 8.- Responsibilities of the motorized vehicle owners:

1. When requesting insurance, the motorized vehicle owners shall have to declare fully and honestly the contents stated in the written request for insurance.

2. When traffic accidents occur, the motorized vehicle owners shall have the responsibility:

2.1. To provide rescue and first-aids, limit the damage caused to human lives and property, protect the accident scenes and immediately report to the nearest traffic police for coordinated settlement of the accidents. Unless they have plausible reasons, the motorized vehicle owners shall, within 5 days from the occurrence of the accident, have to send the accident notice to the concerned insurance enterprises;

2.2. Not to remove, disassemble or repair the property without consents of insurance enterprises, except where it is necessary to do so to ensure the safety for people and property or where it is so requested by the competent agency(ies).

2.3. To make the reservation of the right to lodge complaints and transfer to the insurance enterprises the right to ask for compensasion within the amount of money the insurance enterprise already indemnified, enclosed with all necessary relevant vouchers if the accident is related to the responsibility of the third person.

3. The motorized vehicle owners must be honest in the gathering and provision of documents and vouchers in the compensasion-demanding dossiers and create favourable conditions for the insurance enterprises to verify the authenticity of such documents and vouchers.

4. In cased where the purpose of using a vehicle is altered, the new owner of the motorized vehicle shall have to promptly inform the insurance enterprise thereof for properly readjusting the premium rates.

If a motorized vehicle owner fails to fulfill the above-mentioned responsibilities, the insurance enterprise may refuse part or whole of the compensasion money corresponding to the damage caused due to the fault of the motorized vehicle owner.

Article 9.- Responsibilities of insurance enterprises:

1. The insurance enterprises shall have the responsibility:

- To provide the motorized vehicle owners with the Regulation, Index of premiums and responsibility levels regarding the insurance for the civil liability of the motorized vehicle owners;

- To guide and create favourable conditions for the motorized vehicle owners to buy the insurance.

2. For especially serious accidents (causing death or injury to many persons or property damage of 20,000,000 (twenty million) VN dong or more, the concerned insurance enterprises shall have to closely coordinate with the involved motorized vehicle owners and functional agencies right from the beginning to settle the cases. If necessary, the insurance enterprises shall have to pay in advance for necessary and reasonable expenses within the scope of insured responsibility in order to best overcome the consequences of the accidents.

3. The insurance enterprises shall have to coordinate with the police offices in gathering necessary papers related to the accidents within the scope of insured responsibility.

4. When the compensation dossiers are complete and valid, the insurance enterprises shall have to consider and pay the damages within the compensation timelimits prescribed in Article 16 below.

Article 10.- Repeated insurance:

In cases where the insurance for a motorized vehicle is repeated, its owner shall have to immediately notify the concerned insurance enterprise of the names of other insurance enterprises and the amount of premium paid to each of them, except otherwise provided for by the insurance contract.

In case of repeated insurance, the responsibility of each insurance enterprise shall correspond to the amount of insurance premium it has received and all such insurance enterprises shall only bear the responsibilities within the insured responsibility level prescribed in the Index of premiums and insured responsibility levels issued together with this Regulation.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 11.- Insured responsibility:

Within the scope of insured responsibility levels stated in the insurance certificates, the insurance enterprises shall have to pay the motorized vehicle owners the amounts of money they have paid in compensation under the Civil Code for the damage caused to the third persons and passengers transported on their vehicles under the transport contracts. Specifically:

1. For people: The payment is calculated on the basis of the stipulations in the transport contract, if any (for passengers transported on the vehicle according to the transport contracts), reasonable expenses for first-aids and treatment, health recuperation, incomes actually lost or reduced, feeding up and care of the victims before they die, reasonable funeral cost... and the extent of the vehicle owner's fault. The total amount of damages shall not exceed the insured responsibility levels for human being as prescribed in the Premium and Insured Responsibility Level Index issued together with Decision No.229/1998/QD-BTC of the Minister of Finance;

2. For property: It is calculated according to the actual damage and the extent of fault of the motorized vehicle owner. The total amount of damages shall not exceed the insured responsibility level for the property as prescribed in the Premium and Insured Responsibility Level Index issued together with Decision No.299/1998/QD-BTC of the Minister of Finance;

3. Necessary and reasonable expenses for preven-ting and limiting the accident-related damage, which the motorized vehicle owners have already paid;

The total of the above-said expenses must not exceed the total responsibility level stated in the insurance certificates.

Article 12.- Expertise of damage:

Every property damage within the insured responsibility shall be expertised by the insurance enterprise (except otherwise provided for) to the witness of the motorized vehicle owner, the third person or the lawful representatives of parties involved in order to determine the cause and the extent of damage caused by the accident.

In cases where the motorized vehicle owner disagrees with the damage extent determined by the insurance enterprise, the two sides shall agree to choose a professional technical expert to perform the expertise. The conclusion of the professional technical expert shall be the final decision. If the conclusion of the professional technical expert is different from the conclusion of the insurance enterprise, the insurance enterprise shall have to pay the expertising costs. If the conclusion of the professional technical expert is the same as the conclusion of the insurance enterprise, the motorized vehicle owner shall have to bear the cost of expertise.

In special cases where the insurance enterprise is unable to make a record on the expertise, the reports and conclusions of competent functional agencies as well as the gathered material evidences (photos, declarations of parties involved...) shall serve as basis for determining the damage extent.

Article 13.- Insurance exclusion:

The insurance enterprises shall not have to pay compensation for the damage caused in the following circumstances:

1. Acts of deliberately causing damage by the vehicle owners or victims;

2. Vehicles having no technical and environmental safety inspection certificates;

3. Drivers having no valid driving licenses (for motorized vehicles that require driving licenses); drivers found with alcoholic strength exceeding the currently prescribed level as concluded in writing by competent State bodies.

4. Vehicles carrying inflammables or explosives illegally (without transport permits or the transport thereof contrary to the provisions in the transport permits).

5. Vehicles used for driving practice, sport race, illegal race, post-repair test run (except otherwise agreed upon);

6. Vehicles moving into no-entry roads or restricted areas, or moving at night without adequate head lights as prescribed;

7. War and other causes similar to war;

8. Accidents occurring outside the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (except otherwise agreed upon);

9. Damage that cause indirect consequences such as decrease in commercial values, damage associated with the use and exploitation of damaged property;

10. Damage to property stolen or robbed in accidents;

11. Vehicles overloaded with cargo or with passengers exceeding the prescribed number.

Besides, the insurance enterprises shall not have to pay compensation for damage caused to special property including:

- Gold, silver and precious stones;

- Money and papers of monetary value;

- Antiques, precious and rare paintings and photos;

- Human corpses and remains.

Article 14.- Compensation dossiers.

A compensation dossier includes the following papers:

1. The accident notice; the motorized vehicle owner's written request for compensention.

2. Copies of the following papers:

2.1. The insurance certificate;

2.2. The driving license (for motorized vehicles that require the driving licenses).

2.3. The vehicle registration certificate;

2.4. The technical and environmental safety inspection certificate;

2.5. The business registration license for passenger transport in case of the request for compensation to the passengers having suffered from damage in lives or health;

3. The accident inspection conclusion of the police or the copy of the accident dossier (with certification of the police in the locality where the accident dossier was received), including:

3.1. The sketch of the traffic accident scene;

3.2. The report on the scene inspection.

3.3. The report on the inspection of the vehicle involved in the traffic accident;

3.4. The report on the handling of the traffic accident;

4. The court decision (if any);

5. Papers related to the responsibility of the third person (if any);

6. The report on expertise of the damage (if any).

Article 15.- Compensation- requesting procedures

When requesting the compensation, the motorized vehicle owner shall have to send to the insurance enterprise the compensation dossiers as provided for in Article 14 and the following papers:

1. For human damage:

1.1. In case of injury: Papers issued by competent medical bodies certifying the victim's injury caused by the traffic accident such as the certificate of the victim's injury, the hospital release paper, the surgery card and papers related to expenses for healthcare and treatment...

1.2. In case of death: The certificate of the victim's death.

2. For property damage: Papers evidencing the damage such as the receipt of repair or replacement of the property damaged by the accident.

3. Papers proving necessary and reasonable expenses already paid by the vehicle owner in order to minimize the damage or to follow the instructions of the insurance enterprise.

Chapter III

DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Article 16.- The timelimits for demanding, paying and/or complaining about compensation:

1. The timelimit for the motorized vehicle owner to demand compensation is six (6) months from the date the accident occurs except for case of delay due to objective reasons or force majeure as prescribed by law.

2. The timelimit for the insurance enterprise to pay the damages is fifteen (15) days from the receipt of the complete and valid dossier on compensation and shall not be longer than 30 days if the verification of the dossier must be conducted.

In case of refusal to pay damages, the insurance enterprise shall have to notify the motorized vehicle owner of the reason therefor within the above-said timelimit.

3. The timelimit for the motorized vehicle owner to lodge complaint about compensation is three (3) months from the date the insurance enterprise pay or refuses to pay the damages. Past that timelimit, all complaints shall be invalid.

4. In cases where a third person or a passenger under a transport contract, who suffered from physical and property damage caused by the insured vehicle, lodges complaint, directly demanding the involved insurance enterprise pay the damages, the latter shall have to contact the motorized vehicle owner in order to make satisfactory compensation according to the stipulations in this Regulation.

Article 17.- Settlement of disputes:

All disputes arising from insurance contracts, if being unable to be settled through negotiations between involved parties, shall be brought to court in Vietnam for settlement.

For the Minister of Finance

Vice Minister

LE THI BANG TAM

INDEX OF PREMIUMS AND LEVELS OF INSURANCE FOR CIVIL LIABILITY OF MOTORIZED VEHICLE OWNERS

(Issued together with Decision No.299/1998/QD-BTC of the Minister of Finance)

1. The insured responsibility levels.

1.1. For people: 12 million VND/person (for third persons and passengers under the passenger transport contracts)

1.2. For property: 30 million VND/case (for third persons).

2. Insurance premium (for the third persons and passengers under passenger transport contracts).

Serial number Types of vehicle Annual premium (VND)

1 Motorized two-wheelers:

- Of 50 CC or under 37,000

- Over 50 CC 44,000

2 Lambretta, sidecars, motorized pedicabs,

three-wheelers with trailers 113,000

3 Passenger cars

- Of 05 seats or less 160,000

- Of from 06 to 15 seats 380,000

- Of from 16 to 24 seats 620,000

- Of over 24 seats 900,000

4 Trucks

- Of under 3 tons 240,000

- Of from 3 to 8 tons 370,000

- Of over 8 tons 510,000

5 Passenger-cum-cargo vehicles 320,000

6 Tractors of various types Calculated according to tonnages

as for trucks in Item 4.

7 Trailers 30% of the premium for trucks in Item 4.

8 Vehicles with special-purpose equipment such as

lifting, loading, cleaning equipment, concrete

mixers,... oil or gas tankers of the same tonnage Equal to 120% of the premium for vehicles

3. Other stipulations:

3.1. For vehicles with business licenses for inter-provincial passenger transport: the prescribed premium plus 30% thereof; for intra-provincial buses the prescribed premium plus 15% thereof.

3.2. For taxi, the prescribed premium plus 30% thereof.

3.3. Vehicle owners who have 50 or more vehicles insured at an insurance enterprise shall be entitled to a 15% - reduction of the total payable premium.

3.4. Short-term premium:

Under 3 months: 30% of the annual premium.

From 3 to 6 months: 60% of the annual premium.

From over 6 to 9 months: 90% of the annual premium.

Over 9 months: 100% of the annual premium.

For the Minister of Finance

Vice Minister

LE THI BANG TAM